Sutton’s predictions v singer Bradley Simpson

Liverpool travel to Manchester City on Sunday after drawing their past two away games, so could the Premier League leaders drop more points at Etihad Stadium?

According to BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton, “Arne Slot’s side are having a little slip or two.”

“But I just look at Manchester City defensively and think how are they going to keep Liverpool out”?

Sutton is anticipating 380 Premier League games against a range of guests this season.

For week 26, he takes on singer Bradley Simpson, who is a Newcastle fan.

The Panic Years, The Vamps’ frontman’s debut solo album, is due out on February 28. His new single, Carpet Burn, is out now.

Do you concur with their evaluations? You can make your own below.

The tables and scoreboards at the bottom of this page feature the most widely used scoreline for each game.

Simpson was a West Midlands native from Sutton Coldfield, but he always preferred to play at Newcastle.

“I grew up in Birmingham but all my family are from Newcastle”, he explained. My father, who is a golf coach, relocated to The Belfry about six months before I was born.

” I would have loved to have grown up in Newcastle with a Geordie accent, so I still hold that against them!

“My dad actually played for Newcastle; he was a really good player when he was younger and for a while before he started playing golf; he always kept his club ties when he left.”

” So, for me, growing up I was always a massive Newcastle fan because of him, but I was surrounded by Aston Villa and Blues]Birmingham City] supporters and I was always the odd one out.

“We didn’t really get that chance, but it was difficult because I think it’s nice to grow up in the city of whoever you support so you can play games fairly frequently,” he said.

” My dad and I would always watch games where we could, but the first time I went up and watched a game at St James ‘ Park was against Manchester City, about 15 years ago.

“We lost 3-1, so it seems like we’ve been losing to City for a while, which is why last Saturday’s defeat really stings!”

” I just got sucked in even more from there, though, because St James ‘ is such an amazing stadium that the city is built around, and the Newcastle fans are just a different breed.

Everyone was so excited about it, even though we were losing.

Leicester have not won at home in the Premier League since 3 December, when they beat West Ham in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first game in charge, and they have lost their past five league games at King Power Stadium.

I don’t see the Foxes keeping Brentford out, so it would be huge for them if they could bring anything here to aid in their relegation fight.

Van Nistelrooy had just been appointed but was watching in the stands when the Bees hammered Leicester 4-1 earlier in the season and I am expecting their creativity and attacking energy to be too much for his side this time, too.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-2

Bradley’s prediction: I lived near Brentford’s old ground for about three years, in a flat with Tristan Evans]The Vamps drummer]. You could hear the games playing when we were about 50 meters from Griffin Park. We managed to get to a few too, and I’ve got a real soft spot for the Bees even now. They have been excellent since their promotion, but especially this season. Their fans are always really good too.

Everton have moved above Manchester United in the table, and they go into this game as favourites – and rightly so.

Although the Toffees are without the injured Iliman Ndiaye, which is a huge blow, Beto has improved greatly under David Moyes, and they are undoubtedly a threat to score.

I actually think this game will be quite tight, though. I didn’t believe that many people thought United’s performance against Tottenham last weekend was as bad as they had predicted.

They had some very good early chances they should have taken and I have a feeling they will have some opportunities this time too.

I’m going with a 1-1 draw, which I do because of this. One of my pals is an Everton fan and every time I haven’t backed them to win under Moyes and they got something, he loved it.

He’ll probably enjoy the fact that I’m not backing them in this campaign, as well, but Ruben Amorim’s side’s performance at Goodison Park means a lot to him, as does his side’s performance at the end of the campaign.

United are not getting relegated whatever happens, but Amorim needs a decent result or two to build some credit for next season.

If he overhauls his squad this summer, he needs to hit the ground running because it will be seen as more of his team and needs to win over them.

If that doesn’t happen, then there is going to be a pile on from people saying there has been no progress since he took over from Erik ten Hag.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-1.

Last weekend, when Wolves held on to a close game at Anfield, Matheus Cunha showed his class with his stunning goal that gave Liverpool hope.

That performance should give Vítor Pereira’s struggling side real belief and I am expecting them to put up a fight here too, but I just can’t back against Bournemouth.

I can’t see anything but a home win due to the way the Cherries attack and the number of shots they get on target.

Andoni Iraola’s side are right in the mix for the Champions League places now, and that race is very interesting.

There are still some teams with a chance, especially since fifth place might be sufficient this year, after Liverpool and Arsenal will finish first or second.

I’m going for Manchester City to finish in my top five, along with Nottingham Forest. Bournemouth will continue its excellent current form, which would be a remarkable accomplishment.

Sutton’s prediction: 2-1

After scoring two crucial late goals against Leicester last week, midfielder Mikel Merino is now the main man for Arsenal.

With Liverpool dropping points against Aston Villa on Wednesday, Arsenal have them in their sights and it will be really interesting to see how Gunners boss Mikel Arteta approaches this game.

Liverpool currently leads Liverpool by five points if they defeat West Ham, and the Hammers don’t seem to be in that kind of shape.

West Ham have not got going at all under new boss Graham Potter. Similar to Manchester United, they are not falling into the relegation zone, but their fans haven’t had much fun this season.

Arsenal won 5-2 at London Stadium in November, with all the goals coming in the first half. Although there won’t be as many as they will this time, I still believe Arsenal will come away with convincing victories.

Sutton’s prediction: 3-0

Bradley’s prediction: I find myself enjoying watching Arsenal’s academie stars like Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri. They have got injury problems up front but they still seem in really good form at the moment. 1-2-1

Anything could happen between these two teams, as I believe it is impossible to foresee.

Crystal Palace lost to Everton last week but actually played pretty well.

I mentioned how Fulham has recently struggled at home, but they then defeated Nottingham Forest at Craven Cottage.

My instinct tells me to go for a draw but I actually think Fulham will make it back-to-back home wins – so Palace will probably end up taking the points.

Sutton’s prediction: 2-1

Ipswich defeated Aston Villa last week, but they still need to win in their precarious position at the bottom of the table.

They beat Tottenham earlier in the season to get their first victory of the campaign and another one would be absolutely massive for them.

I sincerely hope they do it for Mr. Fields, the teacher of my daughter, who is a huge fan of the Tractor Boys. But this game is big for Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou too.

Spurs benefit from having James Maddison back in shape, and Guglielmo Vicario’s goalkeeper also did well against Manchester United when he recovered from injury as well.

So, while my first thought was that Ipswich could get some joy from playing on the counter-attack, I am going with a draw.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-1.

There does not seem much point talking about Southampton.

Being a Saints fan right now, which I must say every week, is something I can’t possibly possibly do.

It is just sheer loyalty that is making them turn up for matches at the moment because they only get more misery when they do.

Brighton haven’t been particularly consistent this year, at least until their back-to-back victories over Chelsea last week. As a result, it’s difficult to predict.

It is not hard to call this game, though – the Seagulls are going to win and all I have to decide is by how many.

The issue with using a prediction game is that both my guest and BBC readers are undoubtedly going to suffer a defeat for Southampton. I don’t think anyone out there will go with a Saints win, will they?

Sutton’s prediction: 0-1.

Chelsea’s form has been pretty rotten recently and their manager, Enzo Maresca, also needs a strong finish to the season.

The fact that Cole Palmer has lost his composure, both at center-forward and in goal, is unfortunate. Maresca really needs to make the Champions League places but nothing is clicking for his side at the moment.

Aston Villa probably has improved with their performances, but their last five league games have resulted in four draws and one defeat.

They were great going forward against Liverpool on Wednesday but just cannot keep clean sheets – although Tyrone Mings ‘ return to the team from injury is big for them at the back.

I had to ponder this one, but I’m going to let my old club Villa defeat Chelsea, and Maresca could start to feel some pressure if this poor run continues for a while.

Sutton’s prediction: 2-1

Bradley’s prediction: This will be a belter. I always enjoy watching Villa, but I’m currently incredibly fond of their side.

They are like my midlands team, because I grew up with a load of pals who supported them and still go to the odd game with them too. I understand why there is such a buzz right now in Villa Park. I think Ollie Watkins is fantastic, so strong and in good form, and obviously they have brought in Marcus Rashford to play up front too.

As a forecaster for the BBC, I always choose my heart over my head.

That’s what I am doing with this game, which is big for both teams in the battle for the top four.

I’d love to see how Nottingham Forest’s boys’ club, Fulham, will respond to their defeat, but I can’t help but think that Newcastle will, given their poor performance and weekend results against Manchester City, will recover.

I just think there will be a big reaction from Alexander Isak, who was kept really quiet by City, and a real response from their whole team.

Sutton’s prediction: 2-0

Bradley’s prediction: The past couple of games in the league, we have not been great but I put that down to the focus that has been put on the Carabao Cup final.

This is a crucial game, and it helps that we are back at home, where we are typically so strong, to regain that confidence before we take the field to play at Wembley.

On the flip side, Chris Wood is in great form for Forest and coming back to Newcastle, so he will probably score – we just need to sit on him as much as we can. I’m going to back us even though it’s going to be a really difficult game because of it all. 1-2-1

Bradley in the 16-margin Carabao Cup final against Liverpool: It will be very close. I don’t want to tempt fate by saying we are going to win it, and I also think it depends a lot on how we do in the next couple of weeks. On Wednesday, we play Liverpool in the league, and the same applies to their form and how the title race is progressing.

Without Erling Haaland, Manchester City lacked confidence in Real Madrid from the beginning, so they basically waved the white flag at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night.

Let’s be frank, it was a shambolic performance from Pep Guardiola’s side, with a real lack of intensity.

The way Pep had organized them was a part of the pickle City found themselves in.

I don’t know how many times Abdukodir Khusanov had played at right-back before, but it cannot be many, and the combination of Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan in central midfield alongside Nico Gonzalez just didn’t work. They struggled with Real without a leg.

It ended up being really disappointing as a contest. Real were always favorites, but you can at least anticipate them to fight when City lose.

Instead, it was over after less than five minutes. How many times have you mentioned a Pep team to them and they never believed they could win?

Liverpool had a tricky time of it against Villa in midweek but they must think they can get at this City side too.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-3.

Bradley’s prediction: I don’t know about this one – it is such a huge and exciting game. City have something to prove against Liverpool, and they did not lack confidence against Newcastle despite their poor performance against Real. Liverpool are consistent at the moment, in terms of not being beaten, but their form is not exactly phenomenal either.

Before a few weeks ago, I would have assumed that Liverpool’s form was all in their favor, but City are much better now than they did after losing at Anfield in December.

Chris got four correct results from the 10 Premier League games in week 25, with two exact scores, giving him a total of 100 points.

The BBC readers also received four correct results with one exact score, giving them 70 points, using the most widely used scoreline from their predictions for each game.

The winner was Chris’s guest, The Wombats drummer Dan Haggis. He scored 110 points overall and five correct answers with two exact scores.

There was also a midweek Premier League game, Wednesday’s 2-2 draw between Aston Villa and Liverpool, which was brought forward from week 28 because Liverpool play in the Carabao Cup final that weekend.